Dems' gov field a long way from coveted center

With the far-left revival more commonly known as the Democratic State Convention now history, the three survivors in the governor's race can now get down to business.

If there was any doubt the Worcester get-together was nothing more than a liberal lovefest, the results surely show the disconnect between political perception and reality.

Grossman, our state treasurer and former chairman of both the state's Democratic Party and the national Democratic Party Committee, easily won the delegate count with 35 percent of the vote, defeating Attorney General Martha Coakley by 12 percentage points.

Now contrast that with myriad polls taken over the last several months showing Coakley with a 35- to 40-point lead over the Democrats' new governor standard-bearer.

Sure, it's early in the game, but it's doubtful Grossman's victory -- orchestrated by the most liberal wing of his party -- will generate the momentum his campaign dearly needs. So far, he has attributed his poor performance in the polls to his lack of name recognition.

Really? It's hard to believe that a well-known businessman, former holder of two high-profile Democratic Party positions, and current statewide officeholder is some stealth candidate previously hidden from the public's eye.

No, it's because he, Coakley and first-time candidate Donald Berwick, the former Medicare chief who's also on the ballot, are not even representative of their own party, never mind the rest of the state's electorate.

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The Democrats' best opportunity to project a candidate in touch with the majority of the state's residents -- life sciences executive and former Blue Cross Blue Shield COO Joseph Avellone -- could muster only 7 percent of the delegate vote. He also was the only one who opposed the automatic indexing of the gasoline tax.

So now, as the three Democrats try to convince the rest of their party they're not as liberal as those convention activists, a move to the center no doubt will ensue.

But no matter who wins September's primary, he or she will still be competing for those moderate Democrats and unenrolled voters with Republican Charlie Baker and independent candidates Evan Falchuk and Jeff McCormick.

It's hard to believe, but in true-blue Massachusetts, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than a 3-1 margin, both are in the minority, since about 53 percent of the state's voters don't belong to either party.

So ultimately, the race for governor will likely be decided by who controls the state's political center.

As we see it, the Democrats have a far longer road to travel.-- By The Sun of Lowell editorial board, Digital First Media

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